By Halimah Olamide
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says Nigeria’s total merchandise trade stood at N31,892.46 billion in the second quarter of 2024.
This is according to the NBS Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics Report for Q2 2024 released in Abuja on Thursday.
The NBS said the figure represented a decrease of 3.76 per cent over the value recorded in Q1 2024 and an increase of 150.39 per cent compared to the value recorded in Q2 2023.
The report said total exports stood at N19,418.93 billion accounting for 60.89 of total trade while total imports stood at N12,473.53 billion.
The report said total exports increased by 1.31 per cent compared to the amount recorded in the first quarter of 2024 at N19,167.36 billion.
“Also, total exports in Q2 2024 increased by 201.76 per cent when compared to Q2 of 2023 which was recorded at N6,435.13 billion.”
The report, however, said total imports decreased by 10.71 per cent compared to the value recorded in the first quarter of 2024 at N13.970.05 billion.
“Total imports increased by 97.93 per cent when compared to the value recorded in Q2 2023 at N6,301.95 billion.”
It said in Q2 2024, Nigeria’s export trade continued to be dominated by crude oil exports valued at N14,559.56 billion which represented 74.98 per cent of total exports.
The NBS said the value of non-crude oil exports stood at N4,859.37 billion which represented 25.02 per cent of total exports in Q2 2024.
“ Non-oil products contributed N1,944.25 billion or 10.01 per cent of total exports.”
The report said the top trading export partners in Q2 2024 were Spain, the U.S., France, India, and The Netherlands.
It, however, said on the import side, China remained Nigeria’s highest trading partner followed by Belgium, India, the United States of America, and The Netherlands.